Cheapest 100Mbps uncapped Internet for homes without fibre

Axxess sells the two most affordable fixed-wireless packages with speeds of 100Mbps or higher in South Africa, a MyBroadband analysis has revealed.

While fibre is considered more reliable and affordable per Mbps, fibre networks don’t cover the country’s entire population, meaning these residents must look for alternatives if they require an Internet connection.

MyBroadband compared 100Mbps or faster fixed-4G and 5G packages from various providers in terms of their speeds, fair usage policies (FUPs), and pricing.

Fibre packages are truly uncapped nowadays, suffering no throttling regardless of the amount of data consumed during a month.

However, mobile operators must implement FUPs, which throttle connection speeds once a specified data usage threshold is met.

This is to protect their networks, which could suffer severe performance degradation when the limited wireless capacity available to them is saturated.

Therefore, some of the plans compared likely won’t be suitable for heavy data users. However, they can be well suited for those not planning to stream or download large files.

The cheapest options come from Axxess, the most affordable being its uncapped Standard 5G package at R449.

The plan offers best-effort speeds, which Axxess claims can reach 500Mbps, with a 300GB FUP threshold, after which speeds are throttled to 2Mbps.

Axxess’ 100Mbps uncapped LTE package on MTN’s network is the next-most affordable at R549 per month. It gives customers speeds up to 100Mbps, with a 400GB threshold before speeds are dropped to 2Mbps.

There are only five options available for R800 per month. Supersonic’s Home 5G Lite package also uses MTN’s network and offers best-effort speeds until a 400GB threshold is met. It is priced at R699 per month.

For R50 more per month, South African residents can get Axxess’ 200Mbps uncapped LTE package. The package has a 600GB FUP, after which speeds are throttled to 2Mbps.

There are several options with FUP thresholds of 1TB or above. However, pricing for these packages starts at R849 per month.

The cheapest is Afrihost Pure 5G 100Mbps, which offers speeds up to 100Mbps until a 1TB threshold is met. After that, customers will see their speeds reduced to 2Mbps.

Afrihost also sells an MTN fixed-4G package with best-effort speeds. If a customer uses 1TB or more in the space of a month, their speeds will drop to 1Mbps. The package costs R949 per month.

Rain is the only provider that doesn’t implement an FUP. For R995 per month, residents can get the Rain One package with its 100Mbps+ addon. The best-effort package doesn’t throttle customers’ speeds, regardless of how much data they use.

Its packages also include two 4G SIMs for mobile phones that come with data, voice minutes, and SMSes.

Telkom’s fixed-5G packages are among the most expensive listed, and the mobile operator requires customers to sign up for a two-year contract to access the services.

It sells a 100Mbps fixed-5G connection with a 1TB FUP threshold for R1,129 per month over 24 months. Once a customer reaches the 1TB threshold, speeds are reduced to 4Mbps for 50GB before dropping to 2Mbps for the remainder of the billing period.

Its 5G Indoor Internet Unlimited package offers best-effort speeds and a higher FUP cap at 2TB. The fixed-5G product is available for R1,229 per month over 24 months.

The table below compares 100Mbps or higher fixed-4G and 5G packages regarding speeds, FUPs, and pricing.